Hot Topics:

The coaching search in on at Loveland High, TVHS

Both schools looking for football coaches

By Mike Brohard Sports Editor

Posted:
01/01/2013 12:13:21 AM MST

John Poovey's departure from Loveland football leaves two city schools looking for head coaches for next year. Thompson Valley's Clint Fick coached this past season on an interim basis, and the Eagles will also post a position for 2013.
(Steve Stoner)

Questions had lingered for years about John Poovey, about how long he would stay on as the football coach at Loveland High School. Earlier this month, he stepped down from his post after 35 years.

While he ran the Indians' program, Thompson Valley had employed 10 different head coaches. And while there was no official announcement across town, Clint Fick's interim status as the Eagles' mentor -- his second stint at the school and one that came in a pinch this season after Michael DeWall abruptly left a few weeks before the season started -- came to an end.

What that leaves is a bit of a quandary for the two athletic directors in town, both of whom will be searching for football coaches for the upcoming season at the same time. For both, it's a bit of a worrisome proposition.

"I'm most definitely worried," LHS' Glenda Bates said. "Loveland has huge shoes to fill to keep the legacy, intensity and the sense of community pride going. That will be a big piece of who we hire."

Thompson Valley's Ernie Derrera is quite honest when he looks at the prospect of doing a search at the same time as Loveland. Namely the fact the Indians went to the playoffs 24 times in Poovey's 35 seasons. Derrera knows the Eagles have been to the postseason three times in that span.

"I don't know that we're looking for the same coach," he said. "Just from the fact Loveland has got a completely different history than we do."

Advertisement

Poovey had barely stepped out the door, but by the time Bates turned off her computer and stopped looking at email prior to leaving for the holiday break, she'd already been contacted by a handful of coaches showing interest.

The one ideal both have in common is they would prefer to have a head coach who is in the building. Getting that perfect fit, however, has become tricky when teaching positions are not known in the district until late in the spring. It backs Derrera into a bit of a corner, but he feels it's worth it in the long run.

"I think the head football coach should be in the building if at all possible," he said. "We'll post it around spring break when we have an idea of what teaching jobs are available."

Bates, however, would really like to have the decision made by sometime in March, as she wants to make sure the players for the upcoming season have everything set in place for spring work and summer camps. The luxury she has is Poovey and his assistants have said they will keep all of that running while the search is ongoing.

"My first priority is to hire a quality coach," she said. "If I can get somebody in the building, that would be icing on the cake. Really, it depends on who applies. It makes it very tough depending on who applies because of the situation they're in. If we can't get the head coach in the building, I'd like to have one of the key assistants in building."

Derrera didn't even have that last year. Fick taught at Fossil Ridge, and the only TVHS football coach in building was coaching at the freshman level, Derrera said, and at that, just part time in the building.

Fick has not completely shut the door on returning and understands Derrera's position on wanting a coach in the building. He said the mistake of playing an ineligible player, leading to a forfeit of the opening-week win, would not have happened had he been on staff.

What both athletic directors want is what Mountain View has -- a stable, successful coach who is a respected teacher on staff in Bart Mayes. Mayes agrees being on campus full time is a blessing for his post.

During the season, he can keep an eye on grades and behavior, gets a chance to have his players in class and is able to build more of a relationship with his players. He said he meets with his quarterback for lunch once a week every week of the school year and sets up leadership training in the spring.

"I can't imagine doing this job without being in the building," Mayes said. "It's not something I'd do if I weren't. As a head coach, you want to have a positive influence on the kids all year round, with their grades, in the classroom."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.